Electrical connectors are provided for termination of coaxial cables and for electrical connection of the cables to a printed circuit board or other device. With increasing signal requirements, connectors must terminate a large number of cables while controlling impedance between the cables and the printed circuit board. With the ever increasing densities of electrical contacts to accommodate an ever increasing number of signals within a given area of a printed circuit board, particularly in data processing and telecommunications applications, it has become increasingly difficult to design such electrical connector assemblies. The area allowed for such applications continues to decrease. This combination of requirements leading to such an increased density of the signal leads results in an ever increasing noise potential and greater problems in shielding the leads to prevent or reduce "crosstalk" between the signal contacts. Still further, it is necessary to simultaneously maintain a matched impedance from the site of cable termination into the printed circuit board through the region of interconnection.
With such intertwined problems, the predominant design of electrical connector assemblies of the character described involves the utilization of both individual signal contacts and individual ground pin contacts within a connector receptacle, the signal contacts and ground pin contacts being terminated to signal traces and ground traces, respectively, on the printed circuit board. Some attempts at improving the density of such connector assemblies have involved the use of a honeycomb grounding block and the utilization of air as the dielectric between the contacts and pins and the block. Such an approach is shown in Lazar U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,500, dated Dec. 26, 1989. However, such connector assemblies still use individual signal contacts and individual ground pin contacts mounted separately in holes in the honeycomb grounding block.
This invention is directed to providing a unique electrical connector assembly of the character described which eliminates the need for separate ground pin contacts and which provides shielding and controlled impedance.